Thursday, 5 March 2015

PIA News Dispatch - Monday, March 2, 2015

Infrastructure partnership, major agenda in APEC
meeting in Tagaytay

Delegates of member economies of the Asia-Pacific
Economic Cooperation (APEC) will meet at the Taal Vista Hotel in Tagaytay City
on Wednesday, March 4 for the Asia-Pacific Infrastructure Partnership Dialogue
2015.

During the meeting, delegates will discuss
emerging trends and issues on urban infrastructure and financing, get an
overview of the Urban Infrastructure Network, and review the urban
infrastructure issues being encountered by Philippine government agencies.

They are expected to focus on specific
infrastructure sectors in the Philippines, such as transport and energy, and
discuss achievements and challenges in building urban infrastructure in the
country.

They are also expected to tackle private sector
participation in financing urban infrastructure, including the steps to be
undertaken to facilitate future collaboration between the private and public
sectors. PND (as)

Malta's Prince arrives in Manila for seven-day
visit

The Prince and Grand Master of the Sovereign Order
of Malta Fra’ Matthew Festing arrived in Manila on Sunday night for a seven-day
official visit to the Philippines.

Fra' Festing's airplane touched down at the Ninoy
Aquino International Airport at 10:10 p.m. There to welcome him were Social
Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman, Metro Manila Development Authority Chairman
Francis Tolentino, Pasay City Mayor Antonino Calixto, and Manila International
Airport Authority General Manager Jose Angel Honrado.

Fra’ Festing will make a courtesy call on
President Benigno S. Aquino III on Tuesday, March 3 to present a symbolic key
representing Malta’s donation of 700 core shelters to the Philippines. Of the
700 units, 540 have been completed, 64 are being built, and 96 will be finished
by May.

On Thursday, March 5, Fra’ Festing will visit
Basey, Samar to personally check the 350 core shelters donated by his country.
Basey was reduced to ruins by Typhoon Yolanda in November 2013. PND (ag)

Palace still hopeful Bangsamoro Basic Law will be
passed during President Aquino’s term

The Palace has acknowledged the delay in the
timetable of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) but remains hopeful that it will be
passed during the term of President Benigno S. Aquino III.

“We (administration) do not see ourselves looking
at the BBL being passed by the next administration. This is an important piece
of legislation,” Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda told reporters during
a press briefing in Malacañang on Monday.

Secretary Lacierda was commenting on reports that
Senator Antonio Trillanes IV has said that the BBL could wait until the next
administration.

He noted that the Mamasapano incident has
certainly upset the timetable but insisted that the peace process must
continue, saying that the peace negotiations were “sometimes hard.”

“I was present in some of the negotiations and to
say that Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Secretary Teresita Deles is
speaking for the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) or the Chairperson of the
government peace panel Mirriam Ferrer is speaking for the MILF, is grossly
unfair. We fought for what we believe should be proper. And as peacemakers, you
look at the common ground but you also look at the interest of the country,” he
said.

Describing the peace process as an “uphill climb
once again,” Lacierda said that the country must not be deterred in seeking
lasting peace in Mindanao.

“So we ask Congress: Look into the law itself.
Find ways to make sure that what we have crafted would be bigger than the
Mamasapano incident. It is difficult, yes. Lives were lost in Mamasapano and we
certainly grieve for the loss of the 44 commandos. But we have to look into the
fruit… Let us give (them) honor by making sure that peace will continue in
Mindanao,” he said. PND (ag)

Energy, transport departments being consulted on
reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, Official says

The Philippines is determined to contribute to the
reduction of greenhouse gas emissions with the help of such government agencies
as the Department of Energy (DOE) and Department of Transportation and
Communications (DOTC).

Commissioner and Vice Chairperson of the
Philippines’ Climate Change Commission, Secretary Mary Ann Lucille Sering, said
there have been talks with the two agencies regarding the effects of emissions
on global warming.

“Most of our emissions are coming from the energy
sector and transport,” Sering told reporters during a press briefing in
Malacañang on Monday.

She said that aside from the DOE and DOTC, the
Department of Agriculture and the National Economic Development Authority are
also being consulted for inputs on climate change issues.

Sering said the Philippines will submit its
Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) during the United Nations
Climate Conference to be hosted by France in December.

The 2015 Paris Conference aims, for the first time
in more than 20 years of UN negotiations, to come up with a binding and
universal agreement on climate.

Last week, French President François Hollande
arrived in the country to campaign for the protection of the planet Earth and
promote the climate change forum in Paris.

President Hollande also visited Eastern Samar
where he met with the people from Guiuan, which was devastated by Typhoon
Yolanda in 2013.

Sering noted that the French leader picked the
Philippines to be one of the countries “that he felt would be very important to
the (Paris) talks.”

She further said that Hela Cheikrouhou, head of
the Green Climate Fund, which is handling an estimated US$10 billion that is
now eligible for developing countries, joined President Hollande during the
Guiuan trip.

In 2009, Denmark hosted a climate change
conference, which marked the culmination of a two-year negotiating process to
enhance international climate change cooperation under the Bali Roadmap
launched in December 2007. PND (jm)

Operations at Port of Manila now normal, says
Office of the Cabinet Secretary

The Office of the Cabinet Secretary has announced
that the Port of Manila has already been decongested as of February.

“We are pleased to report that operations at the
port of Manila have been completely normalized and congestion has been
resolved,” the office said in a statement read by Presidential Spokesperson
Edwin Lacierda during a press briefing in Malacañang on Monday.

The office noted that this is the result of the
combined efforts of the Cabinet Cluster on Port Decongestion, the Technical
Working Group of various agencies, and the cooperation of the private sector.

“Over the past three weeks, the ships with
berthing schedules were accommodated accordingly. For ships that arrived
unscheduled, they were able to dock within 24 to 60 hours from arrival. Since
November 2014, more cargos have been moved at a faster rate than prior to the
congestion. By February 2015, the benefits of a fully decongested port is in
place,” it said.

According to the Office of the Cabinet Secretary,
from a high of 105 percent utilization rate during the height of the truck ban
in May 2014, to the present 79 percent to 84 percent utilization rates, the
International Container Terminal Services, Inc. and Asian Terminals Inc. have
shown improved efficiency, as ports are maximized to facilitate the flow of
trade and cargo.

It said decongestion at the port of Manila took
longer than expected due to some factors that complicated the matter.

“Although most of the solutions were implemented
early in the last quarter of 2014, the sheer volume of the backlog needed
several months to be resolved. The long Christmas holidays, Typhoon ‘Amang,’
the feast of the Black Nazarene and the Pope’s visit, all constricted the
movements and extended the period of resolution,” the office stated.

The Office of the Cabinet Secretary thanked the
Metro Manila Development Authority, all the local government units, government
agencies and stakeholders involved in resolving the port congestion. PND (ag)